Conclusions and Lessons Learned (click here)
The design and execution of the BIWF monitoring studies (click here) produced substantive results while revealing important lessons about site assessment and monitoring (Box 1). Both soft and hard bottom habitats were present close to the BIWF, and construction effects were identified in both hard (Guarinello and Carey, 2020) and soft bottoms using directed visual and MBES surveys (HDR, 2018). Future surveys should include longer-term assessments of recovery of relocated boulders and of connectivity between introduced hard substrata (turbine foundations) and natural reefs.
The engagement of fishermen in cooperative research studies of demersal and epibenthic species (both commercially important species and bycatch) established approaches that produced results and lessons for future OSW monitoring. Notably, collecting data that are compatible with historical and ongoing regional surveys provides much-needed context for evaluating study results. Comparisons of BIWF survey results to other regional studies were required to evaluate whether observations made during wind farm operation reflected an effect that may have included reference locations or were part of a broader regional trend, including effects on behavioral and physiological traits not apparent from analysis of catch rates alone....
